BURBANK, Calif. — Disney Interactive Studios today announced the development of Disney Epic Mickey, an adventure-platforming game with light role-playing elements for the Wii™ home video game console. The game stars Mickey Mouse who has been re-imagined for videogames by luminary game designer Warren Spector and his Junction Point game development studio. In Disney Epic Mickey, Spector, a life-long Disney fan, taps into Mickey Mouse’s rich history along with the characters and worlds brought to life by Walt Disney to create an edgy and unexpected cartoon adventure.

“Mickey is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse,” said Warren Spector, creative director and vice president, Junction Point. “I want to bring his personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide. Ultimately, each player decides for him- or herself what makes Mickey cool.”

In the game’s fiction, a sorcerer named Yen Sid creates a beautiful, whimsically-twisted world where Disney’s forgotten and retired creations thrive. Originally, the powerful sorcerer from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Walt Disney’s 1940 film “Fantasia” was nicknamed “Yen Sid” by Disney animators, although never named as such on screen. In Spector’s game, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – Walt Disney’s first cartoon star created in 1927 – becomes the earliest inhabitant of Yen Sid’s Cartoon Wasteland after Mickey Mouse is created. Oswald makes the Cartoon Wasteland comfortable for other retired characters as they join him in this magical land. Years pass, and as Oswald dwells in the Cartoon Wasteland, he becomes resentful watching Mickey’s popularity swell. When Mickey curiously stumbles upon Yen Sid’s map, he makes an innocent yet terrible mistake and inadvertently devastates Oswald’s comfortable world. Eventually, Mickey’s mistake pulls him deep into the mysterious Cartoon Wasteland to face the destruction he unknowingly created.

Disney.com today announced it has launched an app for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store. The Disney App features an array of high quality Disney content including areas dedicated to Characters, Music, Video and Games. Content in the app will be updated regularly, providing kids and families with instant access to the latest Disney news and entertainment.

The new Disney App will also offer innovative features including “Click2Life” which allows iPhone users to take pictures of images from the online version of Disney.com with their device that will then come to life within the app and turn into a 3D image. Additionally, the Disney App will automatically discover other Disney apps and games available through the App Store, organizing all Disney-branded content within one destination on each device so users can easily access their favorite games and entertainment content.

With Tinktober coming to a close at an alarming rate, it’s worth taking a look at the Tinker Bell Mix Max Plus Media Player from Digital Blue. With 1GB of internal memory (expandable up to 4 GB via SD), it boasts a 2.8″ 320 X 240 LCD screen and plays video, audio and displays images along with Disney Mix Clips and Disney Max Clips. The best part is it’s available directly from the manufacturer at 70% off the original retail value of $99.99, so it can be yours today for just $29.99. Perfect for those not quite old enough to handle an iPhone, the Mix Max players have some pretty decent reviews on Amazon but you can only find the Tinker Bell version from the Amazon Marketplace for a current minimum of $50.

Disney Cruise Line has announced it will make further announcements this Thursday at 4:15 PM EST regarding new details surrounding the Disney Dream coming in 2011.

The evolution will be webcasted. Tune your browsers to http://www.disneycruiselineevents.com/disneydream Thursday afternoon to be one of the first to know all the juicy details. Or tune to it right now if you fancy watching Tinker Bell do her impression of a flashlight UFO from a classic episode of The Brady Bunch.

DisneyGiftcard.com recently gave itself a makeover and now serves as almost-one-stop shopping for any Disney fan, no matter their favorite. Currently almost 120 different gift card designs are available for purchase, including this recently released Classic Illustration: 101 Dalmations pictured to the left that was just recently released.

Be sure to check out the Vault as well for a look at dozens of designs that have either been retired or are in limited release.

A vibrant and festive atmosphere abounds with the spirited sounds of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou in “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee,” a new, live musical production that takes place on board the “Liberty Belle” riverboat in the Magic Kingdom. The 15-minute performance features an energetic cast of musicians and singers, as well as characters from the Walt Disney Pictures’ animated film, “The Princess and the Frog.” The limited-engagement show will be presented in the Magic Kingdom from Oct. 26, 2009 to Jan. 3, 2010. (Gene Duncan, photographer)

While the Clumsies all clamored over the arrival of Princess Tiana at Walt Disney World, a little pixie dust fairy flew in under the radar and made a home for himself at Pixie Hollow in the Disneyland Resort. Visitors will also discover that Autumn has arrived and has magically transformed the world around them with the deep greens, crimsons, oranges, golds, and browns of harvest time. (Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland)

The R&B group “Boys II Men” (L-R): Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Nathan Morris, poses with Princess Tiana Oct. 26, 2009 at the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Princess Tiana, featured in the Walt Disney Pictures animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” also made her debut at the theme park the same day. (Garth Vaughan, photographer)

Playhouse Disney will usher in the holiday season with new themed episodes of “Special Agent Oso,” “Imagination Movers” and “Jungle Junction,” beginning SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 (8:00–11:00 a.m. ET/PT) on Disney Channel. The month-long programming event includes the television premiere of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

New episodes include:

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

“Special Agent Oso” (8:00 a.m. ET/PT) – In “For Your Ice Only/Coldfingers,” Special Agent Oso puts his Keeping Your Balance Training Exercise on hold and glides in to help Carina learn to ice skate in time for a friend’s birthday party, and then helps some friends learn how to make a snowman.